Seventh Party System

The Seventh Party System was a period of American history which began after Donald Trump's victory during the 2016 presidential election. Prior to 2016, in the Sixth Party System, the Democrats and Republicans had generally reached a consensus on support for neoliberalism, and politics was focused mostly on the economy. However, 2016 saw the rise of right-wing populism and open white supremacism on the right wing of politics and the rise of green politics, democratic socialism, and progressivism on the left wing, and these changes were reinforced by the 2018 US Congress elections, during which an increasing number of progressives, women, minorities, and LGBT individuals were elected to Congress in a progressive backlash against the Republican party. Likewise, the Seventh Party System coincided with a global surge in right-wing populism resulting from the rise of identitarianism in Europe, the emergence of the Islamic State, and concerns about illegal immigration in several Western countires.

The new era of American politics was marked by heightened polarization unseen since Reconstruction, the rise of fringe movements on both sides, the gradual downfall of the mainstream media due to the rise of social media and both fringes' accusation of the media promoting "fake news", a shift towards identity politics on both sides, and the return of race and religion to the forefront of politics. Much of the era was dominated by hyper-partisanship, the culture wars, information warfare, and a rise in grassroots activism. As President, Trump battled against the courts, which struck down his Muslim travel ban and which attempted to force him to release his tax returns, against the pro-establishment faction of his own party, against the increasingly-progressive Democrats, and against dissenting members of his own cabinet.

Trump's presidency brought about many changes in America, including the end of federally-protected net neutrality, the start of a travel ban on citizens of select Muslim-majority countries, a massive increase in deportations, the partial repeal of Obamacare, the end of DACA, an increase in the number of mass shootings in the United States, increased voter participation among youths (mostly in support of the Democrats), the repeal of abortion rights in many Republican-governed states, the US withdrawal from NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the US' new support for the "One-State Solution" in the Middle East (i.e. the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel), and the start of a trade war with China over new tariffs. These changes led to a realignment in American politics as the Republican Party came to embrace protectionism and move away from the neoliberalism brought about under Reagan and shifted further to the right, while the Democratic Party appealed to progressive backlash and identity politics by incorporating larger numbers of Hispanics, women, college-educated people, and Muslims into their ranks.

The major factions of the Seventh Party System were:


 * Liberal dot 2.png The Democratic Party is a social liberal political party in the United States, founded in 1828. The Democratic Party had shifted to the right during the Sixth Party System, embracing neoliberal economic policies under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. However, the 2016 presidential election and the new popularity of democratic socialism and progressivism among young, female, and minority voters led to a major realignment within the party. By 2019, the party was sharply divided between a socialist wing personified by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive wing personified by Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, a centrist wing personified by Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, and a conservative wing personified by Seth Bullock and Joe Manchin.
 * Liberal dot 2.png The New Democrats were the centrist faction of the Democratic Party, inheriting the legacies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In 2016, the Democratic Party was split between the New Democrats - who rallied behind Hillary Clinton - and her progressive opponent Bernie Sanders' cause. The New Democrats remained the dominant faction in the party due to its appeal to special interest groups such as the NAACP, liberal billionaire donors, the Anti-Defamation League, and political machines in America's large cities. The New Democrats were supportive of social liberalism, but they continued to support the neoliberal capitalist system even as more young voters came to support democratic socialism and progressivism, and they generally opposed the proposed "Medicare-for-All" system and were cautious about gun control and financial regulations. The New Democrats represented a coalition of middle and upper-class white liberals, civil rights organizations, and centrist neoliberals whose main focus was on defeating the Republicans rather than on tackling the nation's ethical and racial issues.
 * Progressive dot.png The Progressive Democrats was the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. The Progressive Democrats were born from the 1970s movements of feminism, gay rights, civil rights, immigration rights, organized labor, and drug decriminalization. By the 2010s, major Progressive voting blocs included African-Americans, Hispanics, LGBT people, women, Muslims, and urban whites. The Progressives focused mostly on issues such as racial and economic justice, gun control, affirmative action, a $15 minimum wage, universal healthcare (either "Medicare-for-All" or universal with a private option), police brutality, the right to choose, anti-discrimination laws, and the ending of corporate influence on American politics.
 * Socialist dot.png The Democratic Socialists of America was a democratic socialist political organization which was formed in 1982 to support socialist candidates running for political office, regardless of political party. DSA experienced a membership boom after the 2016 presidential election as a leftist backlash against Trump, and Virginia delegate Lee Carter, Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, and Chicago aldermen Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Daniel La Spata, Jeanette Taylor, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, and Andre Vasquez were all elected as DSA members during Trump's presidency. By 2018, DSA had 50,000 members, while many Progressive Democrats also identified as democratic socialists.
 * Liberal dot 2.png The Blue Dog Democrats were the conservative-liberal faction of the Democratic Party, formed in response to the Republican Revolution during the 1990s. The Blue Dog Democrats represented a dying breed of right-wing Democrats who were foreign policy hawks, staunch supporters of the neoliberal economic system, and cautious about economic or gun rights legislation. While the Blue Dog Democrats were out of touch with the increasingly progressive views of the younger generations, they appealed to college-educated suburban whites who were driven into the Democratic ranks due to their opposition to Trump and the rightward shift of the Republican Party. In 2018, 27 Blue Dog Democrats were elected to Congress.


 * Big tent dot.png The Republican Party is a conservative political party founded in 1854. The Republicans were a solidly right-wing party by the start of the 21st century, as its liberal wing disappeared during the 1980s and its conservative orientation was bolstered by the influx of socially conservative Southern Democrats starting in the 1960s and finishing by the 2000s. However, the 2016 presidential election left the Republican Party divided into a moderate "establishment" faction personified by George W. Bush and John McCain, a right-wing populist and nationalist faction personified by Donald Trump, an openly white supremacist and alt-right faction personified by Steve King and Steve Bannon, a libertarian faction personified by Bill Weld and Justin Amsh, and a social conservative faction personified by Mitch McConnell.
 * ​​​​​​​Big tent dot.png The Establishment Republicans was a moderately conservative political faction of the Republican Party who emerged during the 1990s as the Conservative Republicans of Ronald Reagan's presidency became the overwhelming majority of the party leadership. The "Establishment Republicans" were heavily influenced by neoconservative thought on foreign policy, neoliberal thought on economics, and moderatism on social policy. The 2016 election saw Donald Trump rally opposition to the establishment which had controlled the White House under Bush, and, during Trump's presidency, many Establishment Republicans such as John McCain, Mitt Romney, Chris Christie, and Jeb Bush were highly critical of Trump's far-right stances on immigration and deportation, his autocratic style of leadership, his brutish style of communication, and his protectionist trade policies, and the Establishment Republicans were purged from Trump's cabinet and suffered heavy losses during the 2018 House of Representatives elections, inadvertently solidifying Trump's control over the party. In 2019, Mark Sanford considered challenging Trump for the presidential nomination, which would represent the many Republicans who criticized Trump's response to the El Paso massacre, his refusal to condemn white supremacism, and his alienation of old-fashioned conservative and libertarian Republicans.
 * ​​​​​​​Big tent dot.png The Trumpist Republicans was a right-wing faction of the Republican Party which emerged during and after the 2016 presidential election to support New York businessman Donald Trump. Trump opened his campaign with anti-immigrant, nativist, and Islamophobic rhetoric, and his unfiltered "tell-it-like-it-is" form of communication and his frequent use of social media to express his views earned him the sympathy of many white working-class voters who were upset with the rise of political correctness and the liberal domination of the media, among white evangelical Christians who felt that they were being humiliated by liberals and secularists for their beliefs and who felt that the left wing of politics was waging a war on Christianity, and among white supremacists who praised his promise to "Make America Great Again", to "take back our country", to fight against the immigrant "invasion", and to win the fight against Islamism. Trump utilized the free media coverage of his controversial statements to win support and publicity, and he easily won the party primary and won in an upset victory in the presidential election. During his presidency, he staffed his cabinet with loyalists and fired those critical of him, and his support increased among those who felt that his trade war with China and his cancellation of free trade deals boosted the economy, although many rural voters were disappointed by his lack of attention toward them. The Trumpist movement served as a coalition of national conservatives, right-wing populists, protectionists, former Tea Party movement members, gun rights activists, social conservatives, militarists, nativists, and other factions on the right wing of the Republican Party.
 * Traditionalist dot.png The Religious Right Republicans were a social conservative faction of the Republican Party based primarily in the American South. The Christian right supported a literal interpretation of the Bible and were therefore staunchly opposed to gay rights and feminism (especially abortion), and they backed many of Donald Trump's social policies. While over 70% of white evangelicals supported Trump and made up a key part of his coalition, Trump was not himself affiliated with the Christian right.
 * Populist dot.png The Alt-right movement was a coalition of white supremacists, right-wing populists, neo-fascists, neo-Nazis, nativists, and identitarians which came to be a powerful force on the fringes of right-wing politics during the 2010s. Fuelled by the popularity of websites such as 4chan and 8chan and the use of memes to convey their messages, the alt-right movement subscribed to the "Great Replacement" theory (believing that whites were being "replaced" by minorities due to low white birth rates and unrestricted immigration) and opposed the rise in multiculturalism, feminism, and immigration. Parts of the alt-right coalition included the chauvinistic "men's rights" movement (an anti-feminist movement), neo-Nazi groups such as the Traditionalist Worker Party and the Atomwaffen Division, the Ku Klux Klan, "Christian Identity" supporters, and "Counter-Jihad" activists (who opposed the "Islamization" of the West).